Theme (existence of God) vocab Flashcards
(43 cards)
Theist
a person who believes in the existence of God/s
Atheist
a person who does not believe in a god
Agnostic
a person who believes that there is not enough evidence either way to decide if god exists or not
Teleological argument
(design argument)
- the world is very complex
- unlikely this happened by chance
-must be an all powerful and intelligent designer - God exists
Argument for qua regularity
- patterns, movements, motions of natural objects
- natural objects cant do this themselves so there must be a powerful supernatural - God
Thomas Aquinas
arguments for qua purpose
the human eye is so complex how?
- cant have become this way by chance
-must have been designed - God
(same with the world)
William Paley
Design argument quotes
- '’how clearly the sky reveals gods glory, how plainly it shows what he has done’’
- '’lord you have made so many things! how wisely you made them all! the earth is filled with your creatures’’
Cosmos
the universe
cosmology
study of the universe
Cosmological argument
( first cause argument)
- everything that exists must have a cause
- universe exists - must have a cause
-whatever the cause of the universe is must be something powerful - this eternal and powerful first cause must be God
- God exists
Miracle
seemingly impossible event that breaks the normal laws of nature - cant be explained
Principle of testimony
unless we have a specific reason not to believe someone (they are a habitual liar) then we should believe the things people tell us because normally people tell the truth
- Richard Swinburne
Principle of credulity
we don’t usually imagine things that aren’t happening so if something happens to me which seems unbelievable i should believe my senses unless i know of a reason not to e.g on drugs/ hallucinating
- Richard Swinburne
Principle of Testimony (strengths)
humans are good at detecting lies so principle is easy to understand
Principle of Testimony (weaknesses)
- human nature is prone to exaggeration
- lying is more common than Swinburne recognises
Principle of credulity (strengths)
A Theist would agree that when extraordinary things happen there is an explanation and God is as likely as anyone else
Principle of credulity (weaknesses)
- human kind is so complex we dont fully understand it so some of our experiences may be wrong
- science tells us that the mind will sometimes generate ideas or visions to comfort ourselves
Objections of Miracles
- Miracles are no more than lucky coincidences
- they may have scientific explanations not yet discovered
- Miracle healings may be the result of mind over matter on the part of the sufferer
- some ‘miracles’ are fake - made up by people who want publicity or money
Miracles from the Bible
- Jesus heals paralysed man
- Jesus walks on the sea
-Noah’s ark - Moses parts the red sea
- Jesus rises from the dead
Argument from Miracles
- comes from God
- Miracle - seemingly impossible event
- Principle of Testimony, Credulity
Natural evil
evil and suffering that is not directly caused by humans
Moral evil
evil and suffering which is directly caused by humans
Problem of evil
- Evil and suffering exist
- God is meant to be omnibenevolent so therefore there wouldn’t be any evil
- Either he can’t exist or is an unloving God
P of E (strengths)
- based on observable evidence
- uses clear logical reasoning rather than faith which can be wrong
